


A Spencerella Story

by klbwriting



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Based on Cinderella, F/M, Fairy Tale with a Twist, Lost book, fairy tale, spencer is adorable
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-11-09 03:44:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11096193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klbwriting/pseuds/klbwriting
Summary: Based on Cinderella, Spencer meets a masked woman at a Halloween party and she leaves behind a book that to his surprise, he hasn't read.  He wants to return it but reads it first, seemingly falling love with the woman based on the notes she wrote in the margins, what will he do when he finds out that the woman he met is not the true owner of the book?





	1. The Book

**Author's Note:**

> My third series based around a fairy tale and I can't stick to a fandom for them either. If you are interested in Star Wars or The Flash and enjoy this story please take a look at Other Side of Beauty (Kylo Ren Beauty and the Beast based fic) and Knights of Shame (Barry Allen Sleeping Beauty based fic). I hope you enjoy!

Spencer hadn't really wanted to go out to the bar but it was a Halloween party and most of the team had come also so he figured it wouldn't be too bad. For the last couple weeks he had been in a funk, not depression so to speak but he wasn't smiling much and he wasn't finding as much joy in the things he used to love at the moment. He knew the feeling would pass, that was the logical chain of events, but he hoped coming to a fun Halloween bash with his friends might speed up the recovery time for him. He had dressed simply this year, Sherlock Holmes, wanting to blend in more than stand out. All he wanted that night was to have a nice time with his friends, but of course the universe had decided to not let that happen.

Somehow Spencer ended up alone on a bar stool next to a woman in a large ballgown and elaborate gold mask covering her face, only revealing her blue eyes. She glanced over at him and her eyes looked like she may have been smiling behind her mask so he smiled back. She removed her mask, revealing a pretty face.

"What are you supposed to be?" she asked. Her voice didn't sound like she was mocking him or making fun, but she didn't sound all that interested either, like she was only asking to pass the time. 

"Sherlock Holmes," he answered. He opened his mouth to start explaining his reasons for choosing the costume but she turned away to the drink put in front of her, threw him one last smile before walking away to join a group of friends. Spencer decided then to call it a night, moving to get up, when he noticed a book on the bartop where the girl had been sitting. He assumed she must have left it behind so he looked up again, intending to return it to her but she was gone already. He frowned, looking inside the cover for a name but finding instead a written note:

_This book means the world to me_

He found himself smiling softly, seeing that someone else loved books like he did, at least this one. He checked the title and was amazed at his luck.

**Written to Life**

The novel was at least ten years old and had a limited printing and he had always wanted to read it. It was well read, pages crinkled with care and the spine broken from multiple readings, notes in the margins and highlighted passages. He was now curious to read the book and the notes within. He thought back to the woman who had been sitting next to him before becoming puzzled. Maybe he was being judgemental but he didn't see a woman like that really relating or enjoying a book about an outsider who can write anything they want into life. He shrugged and carried the book out with him as he headed home.

 

Your stepsister walked into your shared apartment, ballgown swishing on the floor, and immediately you knew she had done something wrong. She sauntered in, removing her mask and looking sheepish, almost guilty. Your eyes narrowed in suspicion. 

"What did you do?" you asked. She sighed dramatically, always the actress on and off the stage.

"I...well Y/N, I lost your book," she said, looking like she felt just a little bad. Your heart sank to your feet. That book meant so much to you, you had treasured it for the last ten years. It was the last thing your father had given you before he died. That book was an extension of him, of how much he understood you when no one else seemed to want to try.

"Where?" you asked, using as little words as possible, trying to keep your composure. She shrugged and for a moment you wanted to pummel her. You loved your stepsister, you really did, but she was spoiled and something so careless with your things and your feelings and it drove you crazy. 

"I don't know, me and Trevor and everyone went bar hopping and I left it in one," she replied before heading for her room, not letting you answer or question further. You sat frozen for a minute before rising and going to your own room to mourn the loss of your book and the notes you had written in it. Deep secrets in those pages you never told anyone, everything that made you you now seemed lost.

 

Spencer walked into the BAU after the weekend off still wondering what to do about the book he was carrying around in his bag. He wanted to read it but the inscription in the front made him stop, it seemed so personal, but so familiar. He knew how important books were, he couldn't count high enough to know the amount of books that shaped his life, that meant a lot to him, but none so far was special enough for him to say it meant the world to him. This book must be so special to that woman.

During the briefing he thought more about the book than the case and Derek noticed. They were dismissed and Spencer stayed seated, jumping in surprise when Derrk and Penelope surrounded him.

"OK kid, what's on your mind?" Derek asked, a small smirk on his face. A blush crept onto Spencer's cheeks, feeling like he was holding a piece of someone's heart in his bag and he didn't want to expose it to anyone. He finally fished the book from his bag.

"Uh, at that party on Saturday I talked to a woman, and she left this behind," he said, showing them the cover. Derrick's smirk widened and he chuckled, sounding proud. "What?"

"You have a crush pretty boy?" he asked like he already knew the answer. Spencer shook his head. He didn't think he had a crush on her.

"No, its just this books seems important, they wrote a lot of notes in it and the handwriting is messy but firm, lots of emotion and excitement went into it. I want to return the look but I don't have a name or anything to find her with. And I want to read the book. It was released ten years ago in a limited print, only a few thousand copies were published, but if I read it I feel like I'll be violating her privacy..." he said quickly, Penelope finally cutting him off when he took a breath.

"Calm down Boy Wonder. I will find the owner using the ISBN number and my magic, you read that book, ignore the notes if you want. If this really is such a rare unicorn of a book you may never get the opportunity again," she said, taking the book and writing down the pertinent information. Spencer nodded and took the book when she was done, sliding it back in his bag. Derek nudged him.  
"Get your go bag or we're gonna miss the plane."


	2. The Notes in the Margins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spencer reads the notes in the margins and finds your sister’s number, asking her out.

Spencer had made a promise to himself to just read the book, not the notes in the margins. And he had tried to keep his promise, he really did. He had read a few pages, ignoring the notes in the margins, until he caught one by accident that read ‘so much power and they never use it to help themselves? I want to be this kind in life’. Spencer furrowed his brows. That was a noble aspiration and he instantly respected this person for it. He had a similar aspiration and it was why he had joined the BAU.   
His curiosity didn’t digress either and soon he found himself reading the novel and the notes, loving them both immensely. The book itself was well written with a unique story and good ending and the notes made him think the woman he met at the bar was smart, insightful, and had a heart of gold. He really hoped Penelope had luck finding her.  
By the time they returned from the case Penelope had told him there were two candidates and asked him to stop by when he returned. He was nervous, hoping that this woman wouldn’t find him strange for calling her out of the blue to return a book.   
Derek walked off the elevator with Spencer, noticing he was reading the book again.  
“That good you want to read it again so soon?” he asked. Spencer looked up surprised, he hadn’t even realized Derek was still there.   
“Um, the notes in the margins, they’re so honest. People have a tendency to reveal their true selves when they think no ones looking at based on the lettering and pressure of the writing this woman in intelligent but also…anxious and the wording in the notes seems to show she’s a longer but wants to be part of something…” Spencer knew he was rambling but this woman was fascinating and seemingly similar to himself. He hadn’t seen this person at the bar that night but she had to be in there and in all honesty he really liked the woman who had written in this book and he wanted to know her better.  
“She sounds great kid, go get her,” Derek said, patting Spencer’s shoulder and smiling. Spencer nodded and went to Penelope’s office, knocking.  
“Enter love puppy I have found your perfect cuddly mate!” she called. Spencer couldn’t help but smile as he entered the office and approached the computers.  
“Where are they?” he asked, not seeing any photos on the screens.   
“Patience, I like to put on a show for my adoring public,” she said before pulling up a receipt. "Now this particular book was bought by a Richard Y/L/N, but since he died nine years ago and you met a woman and not a skeleton I checked if he had any children. Turns out he has two, a daughter and a step daughter he adopted when she was eleven and here they are…“ she said, bringing up two pictures of completely different woman. He saw the woman he met and pointed at her. "Ok, lucky lady number one it is, here is her name and number, go for it tiger.” Spencer blushed but took the paper, intending to call the next morning.

You groaned as you heard your step sister slam the front door of your apartment early in the morning after spending the night with her boyfriend. With how hard she had slammed it you wondered what had happened between the two of you now.  
“You ok?” you called from the kitchen. She appeared in the doorway, looking annoyed.  
“Trevor dumped me!” she said going to the freezer and getting ice cream. It was only 10 AM but after anything dramatic happened she automatically got ice cream no matter what time it was. She grabbed a spoon and sat down at the table.  
“What a jackass!” you said, getting a spoon for yourself. Might as well enjoy the ice cream when she went on a rant .  
“I Know! Now I’ll have to find someone to rebound with or eat my weight in ice cream,” your sister rambled, you getting a sinking feeling in your stomach. She always did this, always got dumped, found some guy to make Trevor jealous and once he came crawling back she would abandon her plaything to go back to Trevor.   
“You can’t do that, use people just to get your afraid of commitment boyfriend to love you again…” you started to rant for what felt like the hundredth time when your sister’s cell started to ring. She held up a finger and answered.  
“Hello?” she said, her voice sickly sweet. She didn’t know who was calling.  
“Hi, um, you might not remember me but we met briefly at the Halloween party last week?” Spencer said, voice wavering some as he spoke. He had an inexplicable crush on this woman based on notes in the margins of a book, which made no logical sense to him, which made him nervous.  
“O! Um, hi, Sherlock right?” she said. "How did you get my number?“ Spencer swallowed hard, now feeling like a stalker, this was dangerously close to unsub behavior.  
"Um, my name is Spencer Reid, I work for the FBI and I have your book, the one you left on the bar, I wanted to return it to you,” he said. He hoped she wouldn’t just ask him to mail it, he had hoped to meet her in person again.  
“O! You have my book, that’s awesome! Um, can we meet so I can get it back?” she asked. Your ears had perked when she said book and then you saw the look in her eye. O no, this boy man was about to be her newest plaything. Spencer’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, she wanted to meet? It made him smile and he felt something like butterflies in his stomach.  
“Yes, of course, I’m, uh, free tomorrow, maybe we could get lunch together…or something?” he asked.   
“That sounds wonderful! I can’t wait, how about Lance’s Diner at noon?” your sister said. You were staring at her now, feeling like she might be ok in your book despite the mean girl behavior, if she got your book back.  
“Ya, um, sure, that’s pretty close by me, I’ll be there,” he said. "See you then.“ She hung up without a goodbye but Spencer didn’t mind, he was going to get to talk to her again, and with what was in the book he had so much to discuss with her.  
"You better get that book tomorrow,” you said. You were talking to air by then as your sister was already closing her bedroom door. You sighed, once again having a bad feeling about all of this.


End file.
